We had mentioned earlier today that if Mike Ashley can get Rafa Benitez signed to a long-term contract that will make Newcastle United FC even more of a good buy for any wealthy, ambitious potential buyer(s) of the club.
There is no problem between Rafa and the fans or Rafa and other staff members of Newcastle United – only with owner Mike Ashley.
Mike has put Newcastle up for sale with the current asking price being around £380M.
Rafa seemed to have been let down by Mike Ashley in the summer, and over 10 years as Newcastle owner his word cannot be trusted, and he’s made too many huge mistakes as the owner of the football club.
He is not liked by the majority of our fans.
Rafa Benitez – Newcastle manager
The price of £380M is not too high given it was around £280M when the PL clubs got anywhere from £60M to £100M each season depending on how they performed in the league.
The new deal has that money increased to between £100M and £160M and will likely go higher with the next Premier League rights deal.
Newcastle revenues could shoot up this financial year to around £180M, and we should be profitable too.
So we don’t think £380M (about double Newcastle’s revenues) is too high a price to pay for Newcastle.
If Mike sold to a rich and ambitious new owner, then Rafa would have it all.
He would be the manager of an iconic club who have the best fans in the land and will be backed by big money.
And Newcastle have gone far too many years without winning a trophy.
If Rafa wins a trophy for us – that accomplishment will almost guarantee a statue for him at St. James’ Park.
So if Rafa can put up with Mike for a year or two (or less than that), and he builds the basis of his team, things could get a lot better quickly both for Rafa Benitez and for Newcastle United.
Yes, the downside of this is that Ashley could stay in place as he has for 10 years with zero accomplishments at the club.
Comments welcome.
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76 comments so far
Tsunki
Sep 26, 2017 at 3:11 PM
Comment #1And there ladies and gentleman you have job, who can pay no respect to a man who has passed away because of a couple of errors in management and PR. Forget the guy had this club in the championship league let’s grind our teeth at the way he made a fortune out of us.
Tsunki
Sep 26, 2017 at 3:12 PM
Comment #2Ooeerrrrr missus champions league. It was Jibs hero that had us in the championship. Expect a glowing obituary when MA passes on.
carl
Sep 26, 2017 at 3:41 PM
Comment #3Jib
Mate, I hope you’ll respect my opinion that it would have been best to avoid saying anything at all. Simply put “de mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est”
Thump
Sep 26, 2017 at 3:49 PM
Comment #4It’s important to remember the bad times as well as the good under Shepherd, but now isn’t the time.
Thoughts to his family.
YoungMag :P
Sep 26, 2017 at 3:49 PM
Comment #5Jib said that for attention clearly. Just ignore it.
lochinvar
Sep 26, 2017 at 4:09 PM
Comment #6If Ashley and Rafa can agree a long term contract that committees him to the club then NUFC becomes a very attractive proposition to new owners.
Just wonder if the reduction in price of £20m is equivalent to Rafa’s new deal of say £5m per year x 4 years so if new owners decided to make changes then the £20m reduction in the sale price covers the possibility of severance pay and hiring a new manager and paying compensation to another club. Don’t want to see that scenario but this is football today.
Jib
Sep 26, 2017 at 4:12 PM
Comment #7carl
You are right
I thought “best say nowt”
While folk were offering the usual
(and expected) condolences I
managed it.
It was when he was being pushed
towards sainthood I snapped.
Unlike many on here I had many
a encounter with the guy when I lived
on Jesmond Park West.
Suffice to say – not a pleasant man.
The next Mike Williamson
Sep 26, 2017 at 4:30 PM
Comment #8If I was about to take over I’d want to make sure Rafa was tied down. A good manager is more important than expensive players. We’ve only ever had 3 world class managers since the 80s (Keegan, Robson, & now Rafa) so to lose him would more than likely mean another decade of average/ rubbish/ worst-of-all-time type managers. I don’t think I could face another Souness/ McClaren/ Carver/ Kinnear/ Pardew type. Luckily I don’t think there’s anyone that bad still left.
Our Toon
Sep 26, 2017 at 4:33 PM
Comment #9Each to there own on this but I would personally find it hard to say a bad word about anyone on the day that person passes away. We all have our flaws, no one is perfect.
If this was someone that committed horrible acts then by all means it’s open season, I think we should have respect for a man who was at the helm at our club. I’ll repeat RIP Freddy and condolences to your family
Our Toon
Sep 26, 2017 at 4:35 PM
Comment #10Ashley is not looking to sell us, hes protecting his asset from leaving on the cheap hence the offer of a new contract, or PR spin that the news is leaked.
It’s wishful thinking that he wants to sell the club
hibbit
Sep 26, 2017 at 4:40 PM
Comment #11Our Toon @9
i honestly don’t know what Ashleys up to !!!!
how are you so sure he’s not trying to sell ????
Jib
Sep 26, 2017 at 4:42 PM
Comment #12Our town
.com seem to think the contract story
is baloney – a bit of flag flying –
by a person or persons unknown
ShirebrookToon
Sep 26, 2017 at 4:47 PM
Comment #13Our Toon
Ashley does want to sell. Hence the reduced asking price and also heard from someone who works in SD HQ
Our Toon
Sep 26, 2017 at 4:51 PM
Comment #14Hibbit
He’s apparently been trying to sell us for a decade now and still not managed to do it, the first time this came up he went to Dubai for a piss up with Wise instead of meeting the prospective buyer.
This is our first season back, he gets alot more from us being in this league in terms of exposure than he would without having us at all. He will sell but I can’t see it happening for at least a couple of years. The club in the PL will continue to increase the asking price as the demand will continue to grow
Our Toon
Sep 26, 2017 at 4:54 PM
Comment #15Shirebrook
How many times have we heard it though? It’s not like he’s lied before, I just don’t buy it. The investor talk was smoke and mirrors, it’s the same old when things don’t get right off the pitch the old chat of selling the club comes up
ShirebrookToon
Sep 26, 2017 at 5:06 PM
Comment #16Our Toon
Well I’ve heard this from someone who works within spitting distance of the fat man. I also don’t think Barnes was brought in to take the bins out or make sure the Kettles are de scaled do you?
hibbit
Sep 26, 2017 at 5:19 PM
Comment #17Our Toon
so just what you feel about the situation nothing solid
my feeling is if someone matches his price he’ll sell the clubs now at the top of the market and if things go pear shaped his investment could go either way if he is going to sell it will before January he wont want to be sending any more of his money if we’re in trouble
“just my opinion”
Our Toon
Sep 26, 2017 at 5:21 PM
Comment #18Shirebrook
Nope I don’t think Barnes was bought in for that, I do think he was bought in to manage how the finances are being spent though and to ensure we didn’t go crazy to drum up interest from an investor, finding a buyer is very different to bringing on an investor
ShirebrookToon
Sep 26, 2017 at 5:41 PM
Comment #19Our Toon
Yes I know the difference. But the comment you made about Barnes managing the finances to drum up interest from an investor. Would that not be the same for interesting a buyer. Nobody knows whether it was a buyer or investor. Barnes was brought in this time but has never been brought in before so something is going on that’s for sure!
Tsunki
Sep 26, 2017 at 5:50 PM
Comment #20I think Ashley’s renewed interest in selling the club was sparked at about the time he had to get Benitez in. I reckon he knew he couldn’t face another round of yo-yoing in the leagues and the perilous game of balancing the club in the mid section of the PL and playing the percentage profits game was all too tiring and far too slow. I also think he couldn’t deal with the management churn and being beckoned to deal with the structure of the club as it waffled about it’s business. Add to this he outright bought us as a way to promote his SD brands and was never attached to the club, the region and certainly not the heaving unwashed masses of support beyond their forking out good money for distinctly variable entertainment and those ghastly Balti pies.
He can’t get out quick enough. And if he needs a lift out of town, I’m available most days somewhere in the queue of tens of thousands of Geordies.
Our Toon
Sep 26, 2017 at 6:19 PM
Comment #21Shirebrook
It’s similar but not the same, if he had spent a little more to assist in ensuring we would be a safe bet to stay up then it would be more appealing to a buyer. By not spending within our means it’s crying out for an investor so Ashley can still be majority shareholder and keep the advertising. Again just my opinion but I don’t see a sale in the offering
Chancel be a fine thing
Sep 26, 2017 at 6:36 PM
Comment #22Don’t think I’ll ask Jib to write my eulogy.
cyprus
Sep 26, 2017 at 6:44 PM
Comment #23I hate to write in defense of someone who may well be an axxxlxe but since Bishop ain’t here…
So when he wore the shirt and acted like a fan it was all posing? When he gave pardew 85 million to relegated us? When he hired Keegan and Shearer? Rafa?
I know I know, we need a boogey man, but some of the comments are over the top. It would be great if he threw money at us, for the hell of it, but very few people do.
You aren’t supposed to love a billionaire owner, of course. But I think he thought you could and he found out the hard way.
Of course he wants out. But who’d buy? Apart from in order to cash in?
cyprus
Sep 26, 2017 at 6:47 PM
Comment #24We’ve had a for sale sign up for a while now and I don’t see anyone in the queue, apart from some dodgy, what was it, Nigerians?
c-dog
Sep 26, 2017 at 6:50 PM
Comment #25Ashley is turning a serious profit at Newcastle. And this year his profit will be the biggest it’s been. As it stands, with our minimalistic transfer spend and wage budget and playing in the premier league the club is completely self sufficient. Mike Ashley has made himself a billionaire by entering large markets with budget apparatus. That’s Newcastle in the premier league. Just hope he at least gets us a decent striker. No more Stoke squad players.
ShirebrookToon
Sep 26, 2017 at 6:52 PM
Comment #26Our Toon
I don’t see an investor changing much imo. My opinion is I think he’s wanting to sell.
sing in the corner
Sep 26, 2017 at 6:52 PM
Comment #27Full strength team named by scousers. Over to you Spartak! Get into them!
ShirebrookToon
Sep 26, 2017 at 6:54 PM
Comment #28Come Spartak. Break a leg (as the saying goes) 😆
lesh
Sep 26, 2017 at 6:56 PM
Comment #29I seem to remember a press report (don’t ask which, I don’t know) that said that Barnes was brought in because Ashley was concerned that the wage bill was far too high in relation to turnover and Barnes’ job was to get it under control. That could explain the enthusiasm for getting players out and not bringing too many in.
But, what the article didn’t point out that the wages costs may well have included severance pay for Carr and McLaren which would’ve distorted the ratio a helluva lot in one years accounts.
However, it seems to me that Ashley’s communication with Rafa was at its usual poor standard – hence Rafa becoming a bit pi$$Ed off. Maybe his audience with Barnes, Charley and Bishop (what was he doing there?) was intended either to explain that Ashley was trim the club for a sale or to shut up or be shown the door. I favour the former.
We can but wait and hope that all pans out to everyone’s satisfaction.
Chancel be a fine thing
Sep 26, 2017 at 7:01 PM
Comment #30All owners have some agenda, and very rarely is it for the clubs success for it’s own sake. An owner who doesn’t take money out, as ours purports to be, isn’t so bad. Someone who wants to make money from the club, with the big tv/streaming deals upcoming, but with the idea of growing the club and it’s foreign fanbase in order to maximize profits, with onfield success part of that vision; this is best type of owner we could hope for in my opinion.
Our Toon
Sep 26, 2017 at 7:13 PM
Comment #31Glad Sevilla drew with Liverpool in the first game, means they had to send strongest so here to ensure they win
lochinvar
Sep 26, 2017 at 7:59 PM
Comment #32Oh dear, Mackems 1-0 down to Ipswich after 6 minutes .
I feel a change of Manager happening for them. They’ll need some experience to keep them in the Championship. Pardew and Allardyce might be just the ticket.
lochinvar
Sep 26, 2017 at 8:02 PM
Comment #33Typical – they equalise 4minutes later.
jazzyp
Sep 26, 2017 at 8:15 PM
Comment #34Can you remember when Sunderland claimed to have better away support
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKq_Qv1XkAEiBdh.jpg:large
Jail for Ashley
Sep 26, 2017 at 8:16 PM
Comment #35Been in Disney Paris all day and just logged on to hear the news about Freddie Shepherd, shocking news and totally unexpected. RIP.
jazzyp
Sep 26, 2017 at 8:21 PM
Comment #36Rest in peace Freddy
If I can thank him for one thing it was for bringing Shearer to the club
Jail for Ashley
Sep 26, 2017 at 8:26 PM
Comment #37The next MW,
I’ve said a few times on here, but you keep banging on about the money spent that was the issue. Have you been reading and listening to Rafas interviews. He made a statement about saving the club money by getting Abrahams, he wanted a keeper, but the brains that have relegated us twice with as many near misses said we didn’t need one. He would not have had to issue a statement about the owner keeping his word if it wasn’t looking increasingly like he wasn’t going to. He wouldn’t have had to mention that he hoped we’d be ran like a normal football club if they were doing things as promised behind the scenes.Rafa was clearly unhappy and it wasn’t because he never had 60 to a 100M to spend. It was because he was over ruled by blundering fools who know very little about football.
Jib
Sep 26, 2017 at 8:38 PM
Comment #38JfA
because he was over ruled by blundering fools who know very little about football.
Soulmates of yours?
Jib
Sep 26, 2017 at 8:42 PM
Comment #39Jeepers
I’ve just seen Gareth Bale’s goal vs Dortmund !
WOW
Chancel be a fine thing
Sep 26, 2017 at 8:52 PM
Comment #40jazzyp
So that’s what it looks like when you sit everyone in the stadium of plight together.